5 in 5 - February 2020 - Light Festival at Battersea

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th
of each month I post 5 photos that I have
taken in 5 minutes.

We had another day in London. This time exploring Chelsea and timing our day to finish in Battersea at night fall.  My son had planned this visit as he wanted to see the Light Festival at Battersea Power Station, and it made a nice way to finish our day.
The light festival finishes on 16th February and there are four installations from international artists. Our two favourite light shows were 'Talking Heads' by Hungarian light artist Viktor Vicsek and Eternal Sundown is performed by light designer Mads Vegas.

After taking this set of photos, I reset my timer and took another 5 photos of the second installation. 'Eternal Sundown' is a collection of 140 florescence tubes along the historic Grade II listed Coaling Jetty. The beautiful colour spectrum, from sunset to dawn, was a beautiful setting to London at night, with the river and city beyond.

 

We enjoy winter walks in London, and there is always something new to see or discover. Thank you for popping by,  and as always: 

 I invite you to join in this 5in5 monthly challenge and I hope some of you will do that. Trying a new way of doing things can spark new ideas and add interest, so here's how it works: 

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a mobile timer for 5 minutes.

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool 

   

You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos and if you want to know more about 5in5 there are details here.

And one more thing - when you use the link tool, please click on your post title.  This will show the web address. Please right click, copy and paste this as your link.  This will take readers directly to your '5 in 5' blog page and be easier for them to find.

Field for the British Isles - an exhibition by Antony Gormley

I love unexpected surprises! One way I find these is going somewhere and allowing myself time to wander and just enjoy new possibilities. And this is what happened yesterday. My husband and I were walking past First Sight, a exhibition gallery in Essex. He had never been there I suggested he might like to see where I often disappear to.  

I’m SO glad that I did! Because I have always liked Antony Gormley’s work and didn't know there was a exibition on display here! I lost no time in taking photos from every angle and talking to a curator about the exhibition.  I will leave a link at the end for anyone who wants to know more, but briefly, it represents our ancestors, those who have been here before us; and the unborn who are yet to come. These terracota human forms look up at us, as guardians of the earth, asking 

'What kind of future are you creating for us?' and 

'What kind of world are you making for us?'

At this time of catastrophic fires in Australia, and atrocities around the world, these are salient questions. 

And yet, as people come together we can be powerful. When David Attenburgh highlighted what damage plastic is doing to our earth it started to finally create change and awareness. And who hasn't heard of Greta Thunberg? This 16 year old girl has demonstrated that one person can have a voice. Antony Gormley's approach is more subtle but it says much. 

He didn't want to work in isolation for this art piece and wanted it to be about people. The result is 40,000 terracota clay human forms made by children, their parents, their grandparents, and others who are part of 2 schools in his local community. And since then the exhibition has travelled. And still the people come together. 

30 volunteers spent 3 days solid setting up this display. And that's after walls were built and other spaces opened up. And what you see is literally a sea of 'people' with big eyes looking up. They drift out of view, into different rooms, a powerful image that holds your attention. And in front of you, without barrier, is a row of small people. Different sizes, shape, and colour. A reminder that WE are the guardians of the earth, and that the clay has come from the earth and will one day return to it.


 
The collection when displayed in a larger area (photo from a video playing).
If ever you get a chance to see this exhibition I recommend it. What made it extra special was not knowing it was there. The surprise element evoked excitement and wanting to know more about it. Because some might see these crude shapes and dismiss them without knowing about the powerful message and meaning behind them. Thank you Antony Gormley for opening my eyes to this.
 

Antony Gormley talks about Field for the British Isles